Democrats

The Best Voter Protection Program in Our Party’s History

I’m in! I’m the new Director of Voter Protection and we’ve got a big job on our hands. Over the past several years we have seen laws passed across the country that have made it more difficult for women, the elderly, college students, ethnic minorities and low-income individuals to register and to vote. This is a disturbing trend that runs counter to our tradition as a nation. The right to vote is a fundamental right — our ability to hire and fire politicians influences what is spent on public education, whether health care covers a pre-existing condition or whether a woman can control her own choices – and it is a right that our forbearers have fought and died for.

We believe that every American, regardless of party, should be able to make their voice heard. Our democracy is undermined by laws that allow any rightful voter, let alone hundreds of thousands of rightful voters, to be denied their franchise. We’ve never solved anything with less democracy.

I’m fired up because I know when I read about ID laws in Texas that are so strict that many married women will not be able to vote or purges in Virginia that will remove thousands of voters days before an election or North Carolina playing hide and seek with polling locations, we’re able to do something about it. I’m excited to join the Democratic National Committee and Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz as we build the best voter protection program in our party’s history.

The fight to protect and expand the right to vote is not new. From Abraham Lincoln to Susan B. Anthony to Martin Luther King and John Lewis, the right to vote has been earned the same way – by people organizing their communities to apply political and legal pressure for change. We will adopt these lessons for our program and I hope you will join us in our effort. If you want to join the fight to beat back Republican attempts to limit the right to vote, and support leaders across the country who are working to expand and modernize access to the ballot, sign up here: www.votingrightsmatter.com